Plate made of plastic material and method for producing a plate

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a plate ( 1 ) made of plastics material, in particular for young children, with a cavity ( 5 ) provided between a food surface ( 2 ) and a bottom area ( 3 ), and with a closeable opening ( 6 ) for filling the cavity ( 5 ) with a temperature control medium, wherein the plate ( 1 ) is blow-molded as one piece with the opening ( 6 ) whose axis is substantially parallel to the plane defined by the bottom area ( 3 ) and which is located in a lateral jacket face ( 4 ) joining the food surface ( 2 ) and the bottom area ( 3 ). Moreover, a method for producing such a plate ( 1 ) is described, wherein the plastics material for forming the plate ( 1 ) as one piece is blow-molded, and with the opening ( 6 ) provided in a lateral jacket face ( 4 ) which interconnects the food surface ( 2 ) and the bottom area ( 3 ) being produced at the same time.

[0001] The invention relates to a plate made of plastics material, inparticular for young children, with a cavity provided between a foodsurface and a bottom area, and with a closeable opening for filling thecavity with a temperature control medium.

[0002] Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of producing aplate of plastics material with a cavity and with an opening for fillingthe cavity with a temperature control medium.

[0003] By “Plate” in connection with the present invention any containerfor food is to be understood, this term comprising both plate-shapedcontainers having a flat surface as well as trough-shapedsoup-plate-like containers which may have any shape desired, e.g round,angular, oval etc.

[0004] Various thermos plates for children have already been known inwhich a cavity between a food surface and a bottom area can be filledwith a heating medium so as to keep the food surface warm. From FR 1 601401 A, e.g., a thermos plate is known in which a cavity can be filledwith hot water via an opening provided on the food surface side so as tokeep the temperature of the plate on a certain level. To entice thechild to eat quickly, a mock-up in the shape of a bird is provided inthe rim region of the plate via whose beak opening liquid can bereturned into the plate. However, this one and also other known thermosplates (cf. e.g., CH 568 052 A and EP 199 562 A2) without exceptionconsist of several elements welded or glued together which, particularlyin view of the careless way in which children handle plates, have ashort life only, since the welding or gluing sites, respectively, tendto become leaky so that there exists the risk of the heating medium,such as hot water, emerging, resulting in a substantial risk of injury.

[0005] On the other hand—e.g. from U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,981 A—plates areknown which have a depressed partial region so as to facilitate thecomplete removal of a liquid introduced into the plate. However, sincethese plates do not have any means by which it is possible to keep thetemperature level of the plate constant over an extended period of time,the food will cool relatively quickly because of the distracted eatingbehavior of children.

[0006] From U.S. Pat. No. 2,683,974 A a plastics plate is known whichhas a cavity between a food surface and a bottom area, which cavity canbe filled with hot water via an opening so as to heat the food surface.Without indicating a precise production method, the plate is formed inone piece, and it has a relatively small opening arranged on the upperside of the plate rim for filling and emptying the plate with a heatingmedium. A disadvantage is, however, that air inclusions willunintentionally form when filling the cavity with the heating medium sothat only a poor thermo-activity will be achieved.

[0007] The invention now has as an object to provide a plate which issimple and inexpensive to produce and which nevertheless reduces therisk of an unintentional leaking of the heating or cooling medium, suchas hot water or ice water, due to leaks of the plate, and thus largelyavoids the risk of contaminations, but also of burns and the like.Moreover, the plate according to the invention is to be easily andcompletely fillable with a heating or cooling medium, and also thecomplete removal, in particular of liquid food, is to be facilitated.Moreover, a method of producing a plate is to be provided which alsoreduces the risk of leaky sites in the plate and furthermore allows fora cost-saving production of the plate in large numbers and without anyproblems.

[0008] The inventive plate of the initially defined type ischaracterized in that the plate is blow-molded as one piece with theopening whose axis is substantially parallel to the plane defined by thebottom area and which is located in a lateral jacket face joining thefood surface and the bottom area. By this integral design of the plate,welding, or gluing sites, respectively, and also plug connections ofindividual components of the plate can be avoided, resulting in a platein which the risk of leaky sites is considerably reduced as compared toconventional plates provided with cavities. On account of this one-piecedesign, the risk of an unintentional emergence of heating or coolingmedium filled into the cavity is largely eliminated and thus, e.g. ifhot water is used, the risk of burns is clearly reduced. Moreover, thisone-piece design of the plate results in an extremely simple,cost-saving production. Thus, if the plate is filled with a heatingmedium, it can be used as a thermos plate for keeping hot dishes, suchas soups or the like, warm, and if filled with a cooling medium, it canbe used for keeping cool e.g. ice-cream, fruit or the like. Moreover, byproviding the opening in the lateral jacket face with the axissubstantially parallel to the plane defined by the bottom area, theproduction by blow-molding as one piece is favorably influenced, sincethe lateral opening can be co-produced without any problems.

[0009] Moreover, by the lateral arrangement of the opening, the platemay simply be filled with hot water as a heating medium, in the mannerof a thermos bottle, or with a cooling medium for cooling purposes, withan unimpeded escape of air being possible from the cavity through theopening during the filling procedure. If the opening is arrangedperpendicular to the bottom area as it is the case in the plates knownfrom the prior art, there is the risk that the air collected in thecavity cannot escape during filling and thus the plate cannot becompletely filled with the heating or cooling medium (hot water or icewater). This in turn will result in a much poorer function of the plate.

[0010] In order to achieve a good insulation against the heat or thecold, respectively, while at the same time enabling the desiredtemperature control of the food surface, it is suitable if the plasticsmaterial in the bottom area has a greater material thickness comparedwith the food surface. By the relatively thick bottom area as comparedto the food surface, the risk of getting a burn when touching the plateat its bottom side in turn is reduced if the plate is a thermos plate.

[0011] If the food surface is trough-shaped, the plate will beparticularly suitable for accommodating liquid and pap-type food whichyoung children prefer to eat. Due to the trough-shaped configuration,lateral spilling of the liquid or pap-type food is reliably prevented.

[0012] To simplify the complete consumption particularly of liquid orpap-type food, it is advantageous if the food surface has a deepenedpartial region as has been known per se. With the help of this deepenedpartial region—which can be produced without any problems when the plateis being blow-molded—the liquid or pap-type food, respectively, willcollect in this partial region of the food surface, resulting in aconcentrated accumulation even if a comparatively small amount of foodis left, which accumulation can easily be taken up with a spoon even bysmaller children. In particular, it is also suitable if the plate has anindentation in a lateral rim region adjacent the deepened partialregion, so as to facilitate with this indentation the taking up of thefood collected in the deepened partial region, resulting in a kind ofguide for the spoon.

[0013] For a simple, reliable closure of the opening of the plate it issuitable if the opening has a flange with an external screw thread.There, it is particularly advantageous if the opening is closeable witha screw-type closing means having a self-sealing thread, since by thisalso the outflow of heating or cooling medium through this opening willreliably be prevented and, moreover, the provision of additional gasketswhich possibly might be subject to a high wear can be omitted. Asregards a simple filling of the plate, it is suitable if the opening isrelatively large, e.g. if the diameter of the opening is at least halfas large as the entire height of the plate, since in this manner also ascrew-type closure of a relatively large diameter will result whichusually cannot be gripped by a young child's hand. In this manner, anunintentional opening of the screw-type closure by children can reliablybe avoided.

[0014] As regards a comfortable handling means of the plate which is notinfluenced by the heating or cooling medium, it is advantageous if atleast one handle is provided separately from the cavity.

[0015] To prevent an unintentional slippage of the plate, it is suitableif at least one friction-increasing attachment is provided on the bottomarea.

[0016] The method according to the invention for producing a plate ischaracterized in that the plastics material for forming the plate as onepiece is blow-molded, with the opening provided in a lateral jacket facewhich interconnects the food surface and the bottom area being producedat the same time. By producing the plate with a blow-molding method, ashaping of the plate in one piece is feasible in a simple manner, thusavoiding welding or gluing sites, respectively, general connections bynon-positive locking, and also plug-in connections, and generalconnections by positive locking, of individual elements of the plateneed not be provided, whereby also the risk of leaky sites is clearlyreduced. At the same time, also an opening provided in the lateraljacket face of the plate can be produced in one single productionprocess, via which opening the plate to be produced can be filled with aheating or cooling medium, respectively, in a simple manner like athermos bottle, wherein it can reliably be avoided that the cavity, dueto air inclusions therein, will only partially be filled with saidheating or cooling medium, respectively.

[0017] As regards a simple shaping of the plate, it is particularlysuitable if the plastics material is extrusion-blow molded,injection-blow molded or stretch-blow molded.

[0018] To allow for variable designs of the plate, it is suitable if,prior to blow-molding, the plastics material is injected into aninjection mold with an injection channel-provided core part so as toprovide a preform which subsequently will be blow molded. In particular,it is made possible in this manner that the preform will be formed withdifferent wall thicknesses on two longitudinal sides, whereby it will beeasy to produce a plate whose food surface has a smaller wall thicknessthan its bottom area. Thus, e.g. when using it as a thermos plate—asuitable heat insulation towards the lower side of the plate will beprovided, on the one hand, and the desired heat delivery towards thefood side of the plate will be achieved, on the other hand. Similararguments hold, of course, when the plate is used as a coolingcontainer.

[0019] To keep the number of the individual production steps as low aspossible, it is advantageous if a screw thread is injection-molded inthe plastics material in the region of the opening of the finishedplate. In this manner, the plastics material which already has ascrew-thread subsequently can be shaped as desired with a blow-moldingmethod, the end regions of the plastics material that have ascrew-thread forming the opening for filling the plate with a heating orcooling medium, and the compressed air required being introduced viathis opening during the blow-molding procedure.

[0020] In the following, the invention will be further explained by wayof a preferred exemplary embodiment illustrated in the drawing to which,however, it shall not be restricted. In detail,

[0021]FIG. 1 shows a top view of a plate;

[0022]FIG. 2 shows an elevation view of a semi-section of the plateaccording to FIG. 1;

[0023]FIG. 3 shows a detail of a lateral indentation of the plate; and

[0024]FIG. 4 shows an injection mold for producing a preform of theplate.

[0025] In FIGS. 1 and 2, a plate 1 is shown which comprises an upperfood surface 2 and a lower bottom area 3. In the configuration of theplate 1 in the manner of a soup plate, the food surface 2 istrough-shaped, and the food surface 2 and the bottom area 3 areinterconnected by aid of a lateral jacket face 4. The food surface 2,the bottom area 3 and the lateral jacket face 4 together enclose acavity 5 which can be filled with a heating or cooling medium, e.g. hotwater, ice water or the like, via an opening or an opening socket 6.Thus, the plate can be used as a thermos plate if filled with a hotmedium, and as a cooling plate if filled with a cooling medium, so as tokeep cool, e.g., ice-cream, fruit, or the like.

[0026] As is particularly visible in FIG. 2, the bottom area 3 isthicker-walled in comparison with the food surface 2 so as to achieve anincreased heat insulation towards the bottom. The relatively thin wallthickness of the food surface 2, on the other hand, has the advantagethat a medium filled into the cavity 5, e.g. hot water, will enable arapid heat exchange also with the food provided on the food surface 2.As the plastics material for producing the plate, various plastics, e.g.polypropylene, polyethylene and the like, can be used, and also amulti-layered design is possible. Likewise, the plastics material can beadmixed with thermochromic dyes so as to indicate the temperature of theplate. Alternatively, also an LCD temperature indication could beprovided on the plate 1, e.g. glued thereto. The plate 1 may also havean imprint.

[0027] The food surface 2 has a deepened partial region 7 in which foodresidues can be collected so as to facilitate spooning out of these foodresidues. For this purpose, it may be advantageous if, as shown in FIG.3, an indentation 9 is provided in the rim region 8 of the plate 1, i.e.in the jacket face 4 thereof, adjacent the deepened partial region 7,since in this manner a type of guide is created for a spoon for spooningout the deepened partial region 7.

[0028] The lateral, socket-type opening 6 for filling the cavity 5 witha heating or cooling medium is provided in the lateral jacket face 4.The cross-section of the opening extends substantially perpendicularlyto a plane defined by the bottom area 3. This has the advantage that theplate 1 can be filled easily with hot water, e.g. from the tap, in themanner of a thermos bottle. Such an orientation of the opening 6 isparticularly suitable since the air present in the cavity 5 during thefilling procedure can emerge unimpeded via the opening 6 and thus thecavity can reliably be filled in its entirety with the heating orcooling medium. To check the water level in the cavity 5, the plate 1may also be made of translucent material. A relatively largecross-section of the opening 6 will allow for a relatively simple andquick filling of the cavity 5 with a heating or cooling medium, on theone hand; on the other hand, from this there will also result arelatively large cross-section—diameter d—of a cap-shaped screw-typeclosure 10 provided to close the opening 6, whose outer cross-section(cf. diameter d) may, e.g. correspond substantially to one half of theheight h of plate 1. The relatively large diameter d of the screw-typeclosure 10 is particularly advantageous in that it cannot be gripped bya young child's hand, an unintentional opening of the screw-type closure10 by a young child thus being impossible. As regards a simple, reliablesealing of the opening 6, the socket or flange 12 defining the opening 6has an outer thread 11 which results in a self-sealing connection withan inner thread 11′ of the screw-type closure 10.

[0029] Finally, in FIGS. 1 and 2, a handle 13 is visible on the sidediametrically opposite the screw-type closure, which handle is separatefrom the cavity 5 and thus is not flowed through by the heating orcooling medium.

[0030] Moreover, a friction-increasing rubber ring 14 is glued to thelower side of the bottom area 3, which prevents slippage of the plate 1on the surface of a table. Of course, also individual anti-skid legscould be provided instead of the ring 14.

[0031] In FIG. 4, an injection mold 15 is shown for producing a preformfor the plate 1. The injection mold 15 is essentially assembled of amold part 16 and a core part 17 with a central injection channel 18.With the assistance of the injection mold 15, liquid plastics materialis introduced over the core part 17 into the cavity 20 in the directionof arrow 19. With a view to different material thicknesses of the plateat the food surface 2 as compared to the bottom area 3, the cavity 20has different thicknesses on the two longitudinal sides of thewedge-shaped core part 17. Moreover, the thread 11 of the plate 1 in theregion 20′ of the cavity 20 is co-injection-molded together with theproduction of the preform in the injection mold 15. After a removal ofthe preform from the injection mold 15, the former can be molded asdesired in a subsequent blow-molding procedure via the opening 6 formedin the thread region. Thus, there results a single-piece plate 1 whichno longer harbors the risk of leaky sites caused by glued or weldedsites. The finishing of the plate 1 may be effected in a per seconventional manner by stretch-blow molding. Other blow molding methodswhich advantageously may be used for producing the plate described arethe extrusion-blow molding or the injection-blow molding.

1. A plate (1) made of plastics material, in particular for youngchildren, with a cavity (5) provided between a food surface (2) and abottom area (3), and with a closeable opening (6) for filling the cavity(5) with a temperature control medium, characterized in that the plate(1) is blow-molded as one piece with the opening (6) whose axis issubstantially parallel to the plane defined by the bottom area (3) andwhich is located in a lateral jacket face (4) joining the food surface(2) and the bottom area (3).
 2. A plate according to claim 1,characterized in that the plastics material in the bottom area (3) incomparison with the food surface (2) has a greater material thickness.3. A plate according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the foodsurface (2) is trough-shaped.
 4. A plate according to any one of claims1 to 3, characterized in that the food surface (2) has a deepenedpartial region (7).
 5. A plate according to claim 4, characterized inthat it has an indentation (9) in a lateral rim region (8) adjacent thedeepened partial region (7).
 6. A plate according to any one of claims 1to 5, characterized in that the opening (6) has a flange (12) with anexternal screw thread (11).
 7. A plate according to claim 6,characterized in that the opening (6) is closeable with a screw-typeclosure (10) having a self-sealing screw thread (11′).
 8. A plateaccording to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that at leastone handle (13) is provided separately from the cavity (5).
 9. A plateaccording to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that at leastone friction-increasing fixture (14) is provided on the bottom area (3).10. A method for producing a plate (1) of plastics material with acavity (5) provided between a food surface (2) and a bottom area (3) andan opening (6) to fill the cavity (5) with a temperature control medium,characterized in that the plastics material for forming the plate (1) asone piece is blow-molded, with the opening (6) provided in a lateraljacket face (4) which interconnects the food surface (2) and the bottomarea (3) being produced at the same time.
 11. A method according toclaim 10, characterized in that the plastics material is extrusion-blowmolded, injection-blow molded or stretch-blow molded.
 12. A methodaccording to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that, prior toblow-molding, the plastics material is injected into an injection mold(15) with an injection channel (18)-provided core part (17) so as toprovide a preform which subsequently will be blow molded.
 13. A methodaccording to claim 12, characterized in that the preform is formed withdifferent wall thicknesses on two longitudinal sides.
 14. A methodaccording to any one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that a screwthread (11) is injection-molded in the plastics material.